Fountain with the miner in Idrija
Keywords:
cast iron, foundries, Dvor (Hof) foundry, Salm’s foundry, fountain, Idrija, Dvor near Žužemberk, Višnja Gora, Blansko, the Auerspergs, Salm-Reifferscheidt, Franc Ksaver Zajec, Jakob Kokalj, Valvasor, Idrija Mercury MineAbstract
The article deals with the so-called Karel’s fountain in Idrija, especially with its cast iron part, which was made in the Auersperg Foundry at Dvor near Žužemberk. In connection with the nineteenth-century artistic castings a question arises as to which of them were shaped according to sketches in the sales catalogues of other ironworks and which were designed by the engineers and artists employed in the factory itself. Namely, it was quite customary for foundries to copy other products, rent or buy models, etc. In the case of the Idrija fountain, Auersperg’s foundry relied on the drawing in the catalogue of Salm’s foundry in Blansko, Moravia. The owners of the two foundries were connected through business as well as family ties.
